![]() And if this launch is anything like 11th Gen, BIOS updates could have a marked effect on performance benchmarks if they alter power limits and boost behavior (as we saw shortly during the 11th Gen launch). I will be further exploring power consumption and PL1 / PL2 behavior in a followup post. It is enough to make me want to run far away, to a happy place filled with old processors and the glories of DOS and Windows 98 SE (sigh). Suddenly Intel is competing head to head with AMD on desktop again, and there will be increased scrutiny of all benchmarks when the results don’t favor an enthusiast’s favored platform. This review cannot possibly cover everything that it needs to in order to offer a complete picture of Alder Lake performance. I am not at all embarrassed by this kludge. And maybe AMD will finally send us a 5950X! For now, however, I simply call out “DDR4-3600” for the 5950X results on the charts. The rest of the Ryzen 5000 Series, at the very least. In future I should re-test the AMD CPUs with DDR4-3600. This creates a more realistic scenario for an enthusiast (3600 MT/s RAM is considered essential with the boost to FLCK and that sweet, sweet 1:1 ratio at 1800 MHz), but doesn’t match the other Ryzen results. When I was able to benchmark the Ryzen 9 5950X it was in a system (which has long since been returned) running the preferred DDR4-3600, and all other Ryzen results are from platforms running AMD’s “official” DDR4-3200. One more thing about the results to follow: we never received a Ryzen 9 5950X from AMD, and I have yet to buy one myself. All motherboard drivers were the latest available at the time, and NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver 472.12 was used for the (limited) gaming tests that I ran for this review. While initial testing did not show any meaningful difference in benchmark performance between Windows 10 and Windows 11, I opted to stick with the new OS for all Alder Lake results here, performing a clean install of Windows 11 Pro and fully updating it before recording any of the benchmark numbers to follow. Knowing that the results to follow will not please everyone, I’ll shield myself from the comments and dive into my hodgepodge of benchmark numbers. So, do reviewers navigate Windows 11 for Alder Lake testing, and preserve existing Windows 10 results for comparison with earlier Intel and AMD CPUs? What about the change in memory standard, as only Alder Lake currently supports DDR5? Should we test on a DDR4-equipped Z690 motherboard as well? Do any reviewers have access to such a board?įor that matter, should we test everything on Windows 10 and then again on Windows 11? And what about the status of early drivers and Windows 11 performance patches? What about Linux, with the new 5.15 kernel that offers, among other things ( via Phoronix), “continued bring-up around Intel Alder Lake with various PCI ID additions and other enablement work”? Oh, and Intel insists that Windows 11 is needed to get the most out of Alder Lake. As if the launch of a new CPU architecture, new chipset, and new memory standard wasn’t enough, there is a brand new operating system – with brand new problems – out too. ![]() ![]() ![]() Windows 11 could not have come at a worse time for reviewers. We now have a product that has more in common with Apple silicon than AMD’s CPUs, as Intel has adopted the hybrid approach familiar to followers of Smartphone SoC technology (specifically, Arm’s “big.LITTLE”). There has been an acceleration of Intel’s desktop CPU evolution, with Alder Lake bringing major change to Intel’s processor architecture for the first time in many years. After the Ryzen 5000 launch it felt like it might take Intel years to recover. Our First Look at Intel 12th Gen Arrives in a Very Nice PackageĪlder Lake, Intel’s 12th Generation Core desktop processors, probably would not have launched this year in their current form without stiff competition from AMD’s Ryzen, with the latest Zen 3 parts in particular wreaking havoc on Intel’s designs on desktop leadership. Final Thoughts: The Falcon Northwest Talon.A Little Bit of Gaming Doesn’t Go Very Far at All.Our First Look at Alder Lake Performance.Our First Look at Intel 12th Gen Arrives in a Very Nice Package. ![]()
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